Discovery
To begin the Discovery phase, the team engaged in a icebreaker activity, where they came to know each other, and areas of commonality. They discovered that the group was exceptionally diverse, but that they had a mutual interest in community work. That subject became a focal point for further exploration.
Context Mapping
Context mapping is designed to help the team form a shared contextual understanding of the central question and bring out areas of expertise and passion to determine the team’s unique personal take on the central question.
During the Context Mapping activity, the team looked at trends affecting the performing arts. They identified that in addition to tokenism and underrepresentation in the arts, arts organizations seem to operate in “echo chambers” that marginalize certain communities. Economically speaking, money is too often used to identify true success, while instant access through digital means can often offboard artists. While technology can provide simpler access to the arts, too often the outputs are limited to soundbites and don’t accurately represent artistic value. Moreover, the impact of art can be felt to a much greater degree when experiencing the art form in person.
Below is Team 4’s Context Map: (click to zoom in)
Sense Making
During the Sense Making stage, the team captures insights from the Context Map and identifies patterns. During this 15 minute time, the facilitator captured and identified these patterns using the Context Map. Sometimes ideas move from a laughable idea (“Ha Ha”) to a discovery (“Ah Ha!”) to a resolution (“Ahh”).
